PAPER ON INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC ...

Air Transport Infrastructure in NigeriaAir transportation can stimulate national economic development. Travelling byair is still expensive in Nigeria by international standard. Our airports haveremained in deplorable condition until the recent attempt towards improvingthem. In addition, air transport using helicopter, chattered planes, cargoplanes and passenger planes has remained un-tapped in Nigeria except bythe few elites. Many passengers are frustrated at the airports by delay of flightsor total cancellations. Not until recent effort of the federal government torenovate the already deteriorated terminals, virtually all facilities in theseterminals are obsolete. There are not enough airports in Nigeria becausealmost all state capitals are really ripe for having airports. Though the traffic willthen depend on the number of the passages that use the various airports. Theaircrafts should be good enough and comparable with any standard fleet inthe world.Air transport has an exceptional advantage over all other forms of transport ifspeed, time and distance are major considerations. Air transport is of highvalue in relation to weight. It is also preferred where accessibility by othermodes is a problem (especially in riverine or mountainous regions). Airtransportation is a system with many inter-related parts. Each airport isconnected to the system through the airways and other airports with which itexchanges flights. Its share of the GDP is however, still negligible in Nigeria.J. Ajayi Patunola & Co.. Estate Surveyors & Valuers 13